The Big Green heavyweights were pitted against a talented and fast Yale team, in addition to cold temperatures and high winds. None of Dartmouth's boats were able to keep up with the fast pace set by the Bulldogs, dropping decisions in the varsity eight, second varsity eight, and novice eight categories, and allowing Yale to capture the battleaxe trophy.
Yale's status as a top national contender was confirmed by their third-place showing at the Head of the Charles regatta this fall, behind only the U.S. National Team and the University of Washington. On Saturday, they showed no signs of slowing down.
Battling temperatures in the 40s, Yale emerged victorious with a time of 5:37.9 in the novice eight race. Dartmouth followed close behind with a time of 5:53.5, beating Yale's second novice boat by seven seconds.
After the conclusion of the novice race, the wind began to pick up, changing from a light tailwind to a strong tailwind, making overall conditions rougher for the varsity race.
The second varsity eight fared similarly to the novice boat, ending with a time of 5:57.6, nearly 20 seconds behind Yale.
Finishing up the day's races, the first varsity eight race was closely contested for much of the two-kilometer course. The Bulldogs soon pulled away and posted a time of 5:23.9, comfortably ahead of Dartmouth's first eight, which had to settle for 5:43.1.
"Yale rowed a great race and they are an exceptionally fast crew that will do well this year," Big Green co-captain Abe Clayman '07 said.
This upcoming weekend, the heavyweights will travel to Boston to face Boston University, Rutgers, Georgetown and Holy Cross.
"We will be focusing our training on the upcoming weekend when we travel to Boston," Clayman said.
Dartmouth hopes to use the race against Yale and the upcoming race in Boston to set the stage for a good performance at Eastern Sprints, which will be held on May 16 and 17 in Worcester, Mass., followed by the IRA National Championships a few weeks later.
Dartmouth's women encountered several nationally ranked crews in the Charles River Challenge in Cambridge, Mass., including USC, Radcliffe and Syracuse on Saturday and UMass on Sunday.
Once again, conditions were less than favorable. The teams had to battle a 15mph headwind including even stronger gusts. Despite the treacherous waters, Dartmouth was able to maintain its composure.
In the first race on Saturday, USC's first varsity boat was unfazed, finishing the 2000 meter course in 7:19.4. Dartmouth battled Radcliffe to the very end, beating the rival boat by two seconds with a time of 7:40.1. Syracuse rounded out the first eights with a time of 7:52.6.
Captain Anne Kennedy '07 was pleased with the team's effort.
"All week in practice we worked on getting off the line fast and really committing to our moves together. Radcliffe is a strong program and we knew that we would need to really come together if we wanted to compete with them. We just executed our race plan in a really strong, aggressive manner - something we will keep working on that is going to be absolutely crucial for further success this spring."
Though neither the second varsity eight nor the varsity four were able to pull out wins, the novice eight rowed a great race and beat Syracuse by four seconds, finishing with a time of 7:52.
Dartmouth was once again able to post good results in the second race of the day, with the first varsity eight beating Radcliffe and Texas in slightly better weather conditions. Their time of 6:55.7 was enough to beat Radcliffe by four seconds.
On Sunday, all of Dartmouth's boats put in great efforts to beat UMass, winning each category by over 10 seconds. "It was also really exciting for every crew from the novice four up through the varsity eight, to race so well against UMass," Kennedy said.
This weekend, the women's team will travel to New Jersey to compete in a three-boat race with Princeton and Penn in preparation for the EAWRC Sprints held in Camden, N.J., on May 13.
Dartmouth's lightweights welcomed Harvard and MIT on Saturday to compete for the Biglin Bowl trophy. The conditions were much improved from the week's wintry conditions, but nevertheless Dartmouth could not withstand Harvard's charge.
In the first varsity eight race, Harvard set the tone early and won with a time of 6:04.5, six seconds faster than Dartmouth. "We did not race to the best of our ability. Harvard jumped out to a quick lead and controlled the race from there," captain Will Suto '07 said.
Despite solid runs from the second varsity eight, varsity four and second novice eight, none were able to come up with wins. The bright spot of the day was a win by the first novice eight, which beat Harvard by two seconds, posting a time of 6:15.7.
